Mars puts a record $1.4 billion into US manufacturing after Kellanova
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Mars plans to invest an estimated $1.4 billion in its US manufacturing and operations in 2027, the largest single-year investment in the family-owned company’s history. The plan, announced on Nov. 10, builds on more than $9 billion Mars says it has invested in US operations since 2017.
It follows Mars’ acquisition of Kellanova, which added 15 facilities to its US footprint in the past year. Based on the combined 2025 net sales of the 2 companies, Mars now describes itself as a business with more than $65 billion in sales.
Mars has not broken the $1.4 billion down by site or project. Instead, it highlighted a set of projects across its snacking, confectionery, pet care, and veterinary businesses, without saying how each one fits into the 2027 total.
Those projects still show a clear pattern in how a large consumer goods manufacturer adds capacity, and how much of that work happens inside existing sites rather than on new ground.
Mars is adding lines inside plants it already runs
In Salt Lake City, Utah, Mars is spending $60 million on 2 dedicated manufacturing lines for Trü Frü frozen products inside the $240 million factory it opened last year for Nature’s Bakery. The new lines will add capacity for 17 million Trü Frü products a year.
In Columbus, Ohio, Mars is investing $49 million to produce Temptations Lickable Treats at a wet pet food facility, adding capacity for more than 400 million pouches a year. That takes total investment at the site to $162 million since 2022.
Both projects follow the same model. Rather than building a new plant for each brand, Mars is adding lines inside sites it already operates. That approach can bring new products to market faster and spreads the fixed costs of a site across more output.
It also suits a portfolio that keeps changing. Frozen snacks, pet treats, and baked bars each need different equipment, but they can share the utilities, logistics, and skilled staff of an established site.
Older plants still take a large share of the spending
Mars is also putting money into its legacy sites. Its Waco, Texas, facility, which is marking 50 years in operation, has received $165 million in investment since 2024, mostly for energy efficiency and operational improvements. The plant makes more than 56 billion pieces of Snickers, Starburst, and Skittles candy each year.
For manufacturers, this shows how much capital spending at mature consumer goods companies goes into keeping existing plants competitive rather than building new ones. Energy efficiency projects cut operating costs at sites that may run for decades, and they rarely make headlines.
Mars is also investing beyond manufacturing. It plans to spend more than $34 million to open 4 veterinary hospitals early next year. BluePearl will run 3 of them, in Ellicott City, Maryland, and in Austin and Katy, Texas, while Banfield will run the 4th, in Wilmington, North Carolina. The hospitals could create up to 195 jobs.
The veterinary projects are a reminder that Mars is a broader business than its confectionery brands suggest. Pet care, from food and treats to clinics and hospitals, now sits alongside snacking as a major part of its US investment.
A largely domestic supply chain shapes where Mars invests
Mars says 94% of the products it sells in the US are made in the US. It employs about 80,000 people in the country across more than 60 factories, research labs, and offices, along with more than 2000 veterinary clinics and hospitals.
That domestic footprint helps explain why the investment is spread so widely. With most US products already made locally, growth comes from adding capacity, modernizing sites, and expanding services rather than moving production home from overseas.
Chief Financial Officer Claus Aagaard tied the plan to the company’s long history, saying “our commitment to American manufacturing has never been stronger.”
The open questions lie in the detail. Mars has given an estimate rather than a firm budget, and it has not said how the $1.4 billion will be split between manufacturing, operations, and veterinary care, or how many jobs the full program will create. Mars has also said it will keep investing to modernize the 15 facilities it gained from Kellanova, and how it does that could shape its US investment plans well beyond 2027.
Source
Mars
